The Mayor Who Said No to FIFA: the Organisation Collects 11 Billion, the Citizens Pay the Bill

While cities around the world fight to host the World Cup, one mayor a few years ago did something almost unheard of - he said "no". Rahm Emanuel, then mayor of Chicago, pulled the city out of the bid for the 2026 World Cup in 2018 with a simple explanation: "Even with grade-school maths I can tell the bill doesn't add up."

The bill really didn't add up. FIFA expected earnings of over 11 billion dollars from the tournament, while the host cities were to cover the costs of public transport, security, medical and fire services and protecting VIP guests. In other words: the organisation collects the billions, local taxpayers pay the bills.

There were absurd demands too. FIFA wanted a retractable roof over Soldier Field stadium - a project estimated at 50 to 100 million dollars - on a building with historic status. The average ticket price reached 1,000 dollars, meaning ordinary citizens were to subsidise an event they themselves cannot afford. Emanuel also refused to grant them a sales-tax exemption on the tickets.

Today the World Cup is shared by 16 cities across three countries - Canada, Mexico and the USA. Chicago isn't among them, and judging by the numbers, that may not be a loss but a saving. For the Balkan reader the story sounds familiar: big sporting spectacles are almost always sold as an investment in the future, and the bill for it lands in the ordinary citizen's pocket long after the lights go out. How many times have we already seen the same maths back home?